Kingsville Comets Moving to Amherstburg

The Kingsville Comets are moving to Amherstburg – Photo by David Dehoey

It appears after an attempt to receive an expansion Junior C franchise last summer, a group from Amherstburg has finally got their team. The Ontario Hockey Association recently approved the move of the Kingsville Comets to Amherstburg.

Kingsville, which has had a Great Lakes Junior C franchise since 1987, has been near the bottom of the league standings the past five seasons, and have had the lowest attendance in the league the last two years.

Amherstburg, a town of more than 20,000 people, has been considered a hockey hotbed in Southwestern Ontario for years. Home of the Amherstburg Stars Minor Hockey system, Amherstburg won an OMHA Midget title in 2010 and 2011.

The area is also home to several popular, and athletically successful high school programs including Villanova, Sandwich, and General Amherst. Villanova, featuring several Amherstburg Minor Hockey players, advanced to the AAA-AAAA OFSAA Boys hockey championships this season.

This season, the Kingsville Comets used a late season run to vault over the Wallaceburg Lakers in the standings for the 8th and final playoff spot, before being swept by the eventual Great Lakes Junior C champion Essex 73s.

Although specifics of the deal are still being worked out, including those surrounding Amherstburg’s arena, the Comets are expected to call Amherstburg home next season.

Ian Kennedy is the owner and editor of the Chatham-Kent Sports Network (www.cksn.ca). A University of Western Ontario graduate, Ian is also a secondary school teacher in Chatham-Kent. Ian’s sportscasts and news contributions are regularly featured on 99.1 CKXS FM in Wallaceburg, and his weekly articles are also featured in print in the Chatham Voice. In the past, Ian worked as a columnist and reporter for the Chatham-Kent Daily Post.